Orphans of Bleak House

The orphaned children of Bleak House portrayed throughout this portion of the reading as nothing more than abused and neglected children.  Dickens uses the metaphor of English society as an absent parent as way for us as the reader to understand the abuse and abandonment of its children.  Bleak House is full of orphaned and brave children not to mention bad parenting. We can begin with, for example, the orphan Jo.  Jo tells us the lodger was very “good” to him.   Although he is shown rare acts of kindness, I can’t help but see that this poor child belongs nowhere.  People are constantly telling him to move on; I could not feel compassion for him.  Here is a boy who has lost his parents as well as the only person who even came close to being a parent and the people of London show now regard t for his well being.  England or shall I say society has shoved into what I say into a life of abuse and neglect by living in the streets.  Jo’s life on the streets is one of harsh conditions as well as not safe.  Dickens portrays him as boy who seems himself as animal living on very little food along with no real shelter.  Dickens use of Jo to highlight the treatment of the children in London society and provides us with an understanding of how children were not viewed as ward of the state and should be taken care of, but rather a sad reminder of the socioeconomic issues plaguing England at the time.

Another example of courageous and orphaned children are the Necketts.  These children are prime illustration of how society has failed.  Their mother died after the birth of the youngest and later the father passes.  I found this chapter very disturbing in terms of how these children were forced to live after losing their parents.  The eldest Charley having being forced to find work at age 13 and forced to take less than what was given normally because her father was a “follerer."  This poor child has had to become a woman.  Her younger brother Tom is also a victim of society since he is forced to become a babysitter for the baby.  When asked what she does, Charley answers with pride that she does laundry to provide for her family.  Dickens is doing something interesting with this in that he seems to be resisting the idea society has about its children.  He is saying there are not little savages lurking in dark alleys waiting to accost someone.  Nor are they a drain on society itself, but productive and resourceful members of a population turning its back on them.  These children were failed by the social injustice that was plaguing England in the Victorian Era.